Historical Sources

Historical Sources

Propaganda is characterized by these traits — it simplifies complex issues, is biased, geared to achieving a particular end, plays on emotions, and defines a cause. It can be true, partially true, or blatantly false. The strategies employed by Nazi propagandists were drawn from a broader history of public information campaigns employed in the service of a variety of causes, in peacetime and wartime.

These online exhibits and archives offer a wealth of historical propaganda materials from around the world, ranging from an analysis of techniques used to influence public opinion during World War I to an assembly of American election television commercials dating from the early 1950s until 2008. The study of these materials helps to deepen our understanding of the techniques harnessed to sway public opinion in different contexts.

This site, an exhibit from the American
Museum of the Moving Image, allows you to explore U.S.
presidential campaign TV advertising since 1952. Includes many video
ads from presidential campaigns since 1952.

The Wolfsonian contains the largest collection in the United States
of twentieth-century German, Italian, and United States political
propaganda, including prints, posters, drawings, books and serial
holdings, and objects that document the rise and demise of these
nations' fascist movements.

Comprehensive resource site written by a Trinity University
professor. It builds on the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA)
work and focuses on World War I propaganda. However, contemporary
and more recent examples of propaganda and persuasion are also
included.